The Cajuns: Still Loving Life
1763-1785 After the French
some refugees in the British
Colonies
made their way north
INIQUE
to French territory. Others
moved to South America, the
Sto Cayenne
West Indies, the Falkland
FRENCH
Islands, and Louisiana. In 1785
UIANA
about 1,600 refugees left France
for Louisiana.
new home
EARLY in the 17th century the Cajuns'
pioneer ancestors founded a French colony
called Acadie in what is now the Canadian
province of Nova Scotia. While the Acadians
prospered on the fertile farmland, France and
Britain vied for control of the region. Britain
won sovereignty in 1713; four decades later, at
the start of the French and Indian War, security
conscious officials deported many Acadians.
Scattered along Atlantic and
Caribbean shores (above), some
refugees found a final home in
south Louisiana. As their settle
ments spread across bayous
and prairies (left), neighbors
Shortened the French "Aca
dien" to " 'Cadien" then
pa
"Cajun." Today 22 par
-
ishes, or counties, with a
S Cajun flavor make up a tri
S angular region known as
cl
5.
Acadiana.